Shepard, Eldritch Slayer
by Convergence-Eternal
Summary: Another low quality Sailor Moon/Mass effect cross over. Warning: This story contains a lot of Out of Character Moments, quite a few original characters, and it's a cross over with Cthulhu Tech. sorry.
1. Fallen Angel

**AN:** Howdy y'all. Welcome to Shepard, The Eldritch Slayer. Its an loose sequel to another fan fic called Unto a Thousand Planets, Unto a thousand stars. Um, special thanks to AiSard and Nobody Smurf for all their constructive criticism on the last story I wrote. I'm a new author so I really appreciate that. I mean, I appreciate constructive criticism. I hate letting down readers. Sorry. Also TheElephantInThePrideParade came up with allot of the idea's in this story. If you see a world building detail that's cool or interesting, its probably stolen- I mean borrowed from her work.

Oh, and this Fanfic is based off of Cthulhu tech, Sailor Moon, and the original Mass effect trilogy. I'm a bit new to all of them so if I get something wrong please tell me. Also all of those stories belong to their original owners. I don't own anything. That reminds me, I should probably also admit that the name Mnesia is from Call of Duty Black Ops: Zombies. It's the name of the M14 rifle after you throw it in the Pack a Punch Machine. My cousin lets me play on their X Box whenever I visit them. And I thought that the name Mnesia was pretty.

If you want to read a good Cthulhutech/Mass effect cross over then check out Mythos Effect by Omniscent1. And if you want to check out a good Sailor Moon fan fic then read Age of Aquarius by TheElephantInThePrideParade. Her work is AMAZING!

* * *

Himalayan Lab complex, Earth

There were two beings inside the room. One of them had short blue hair. The other was lying on a table. One of them was nervously tapping a hand held devise. The other was butt naked.

"That's strange. According to these readings . . ."

Shepard took a deep sudden breath. Their lungs burned. Everything hurt. They opened their eyes. They Looked around. They were in a white sparse room that smelled like Iodine. There was a girl in the room. This girl had short hair and a face that Shepard simply did not recognize. Finally, Shepard took in a few uncomfortable details. Like their own decidedly masculine pecks. They experimentally squeezed their legs together. There was sensation coming from a place that-"What the Fuck?"

Shepard's voice had always been baritone. Now it was baritone baritone.

It kind of reminded Shepard of the audio messages she'd receive from her mother whenever she got sick. Her mother would record herself reading an passage from the SA treatise on Dreadnaughts, and she'd try to sound like Admiral Hackett to cheer her little girl up. Sometimes Rear Admiral Kahoku would get in on the fun too. His deep voice was a bit more convincing. But he just couldn't growl like her mother could.

"You're commander Shepard, right?"

The commander stared at the girl. They had short blue hair, and they were wearing some kind of uniform. Most of the uniform was blue. And they had blue eyes, blue eyes that regarded Shepard with something along the lines of clinical curiosity.

"Are you Tsukino Usagi?", the girl asked in a sharper tone.

Again the commander responded with Silence. The young girl franticly tapped something out on the device she was holding. Then, she tapped on one of her earrings, and a clear blue visor appeared.

"You're a chimera. Interesting. The right soul but your body-", the uniformed figure shook her head, "another set back."

There was an ear splitting wail in the distance. The blue eyed girl grimaced.

"Maybe you are what I need after all. Otherwise, they wouldn't be here. Come on. Get on your feat. We'll find you some clothes after I take care of them"

Shepard rolled off of the table. They landed on their feet. The new body felt strange. Center of gravity was a little off. They were the same height. A little lighter then they used to be. Hands were a little more calloused.

Shepard took a breath. They looked forwards. There was a door. A heavy steel door that looked quite antiquated. There was rust on the hinges. The blue girl was to their right, table to their left, and the floor was beneath them- until it gave out.

Shepard tumbled into the darkness. Long grasping slimy appendages reached out towards them.

"Hold on", cried a voice from above.

Something grasped the commander's foot and there was a sickening crunch. They couldn't feel their leg. And now their mind was starting to fog over. They could hear whispers from deep deep bellow.

Shepard was jerked lower. Towards the darkness, and then a voice called from above "Shabon Spray Freezing!".

Blue light raced downwards. A Moment before the magic impacted Shepard could see everything. The long bone white tentacle that was wrapped around their ankle, the other dozen or so tentacles racing up towards them, and the wide gaping maws of the multi eyed fleshly lumps who were so far down bellow.

The magic struck. There was another flash of light. Then more wailing followed by a thud. Then a voice from below roared "Shabon Spray Freezing".

Silence.

Now, the blue eye girl was at the bottom of the impossibly large cavern. The non-friendly chimera specimens were now frozen sold. She could see this because of her visor. She could see in darkness better then a cat. The Chimera she made however seemed to be staring into the darkness without purpose. Perhaps they couldn't see the bottom of the cavern. According to her visor their heart rate was steady. How fascinating.

She yelled at the subject, "I'm going to get you down", and she tried to figure out a method that would let her follow through with said promise.

The cavern was wide, impossibly wide, and its walls were smooth. There wasn't a single point were the wet grayish-blackish rock gave any sort of purchase. She thought about freezing bits of the rock and then bashing those areas in to create her own hand holds. Such an approach would at the very least be obstructively time consuming.

Next, she thought about breaking the frozen tentacle that held up her prey and trying to catch them before they hit the ground. Seemed like a reasonable approach. She began her calculations.

"Hello?", Shepard Cried into the darkness.

They received an answer of sorts. There was an audible snap. They fell towards the darkness. Some large entity rose up to meet them half way into their descent. There was a bit of movement as they fell down down down. Shepard was now lying on their back. There were two powerful limbs beneath them. They could feel that. And far far above them they could see a faint cascade of light eschewing from the hole they fell through. Every moment, every second, that light became dimmer until it was only a pinprick in the distance. A solitary lonely star trapped in a sea of darkness.

That was what Shepard perceived. Her rescuer however viewed this ordeal from an entirely different perspective. To her this was just another calculated risk.

And as they came closer and closer to the ground she could see the final conclusion to the sharp parabolic arc she had engineered.

The Blue haired girl landed with a jolt. Her feet didn't hit the flat stone floor. They struck down on the still Frozen Chimera's who weren't quite dead yet. Crash. Ice fragments flew into the air. Carrying with them bits and pieces of her foe. Some of them were dark. Many of them contained bits of warped flesh. Some did not. These clear shards caught a few distant rays of light. This created a radiance that even Shepard could see.

For a few fleeting moments their reflected after glow lit up the space around the Commander. They could see the decimated monsters around them. They could see the cold blue eyes of the Blue haired girl that held them. Shepard noted, to her chagrin, that the blue haired was holding them in a bridal carry.

"You can call me Mnesia", the blue haired girl suggested.

Darkness.

"We should be at the lower quarantine facility in an hour or so", she continued, "I recommend that you try to get some rest. If that's possible"

"Pains a little much", responded the commander with a worn down smile.

"Understood"

The Blue haired girl leapt through the darkness. Each bound covered an impossibly large swathe of rugged earth. The second that one-foot touched down she would leap again. Between the leaps, to the Commander at least, it felt like they were flying.

And as they flew through this impossibly large chamber Commander Shepard made a concerning discovery. The monsters were dead. But in the back of her mind she could still hear whispers. Coming from somewhere deep deep below.


	2. Make them Count

**AN** : Howdy! Thank you jdvanover for following this story. I'll try not to let you down!

Oh, also I should probably give everyone some information, in case some of y'all aren't totally familiar with Sailor Moon.

"Shabon Spray Freezing" is an attack used by Sailor Mercury in the first season of the 90's Sailor Moon Anime. It's an attack that shows up allot in this really cool Fanfic I'm reading on the site Sufficient Velocity called Dungeon Keeper Ami. I was trying to think of an attack for my OC to use, and that was the first one that popped up in my head. Sorry. And I should probably also mention that in Sailor moon intangible stuff like memories can take on a physical form. Like how in Season two of Sailor moon anime Mamoru Chiba's memories become the Moonlight Knight so that they can help sailor moon fight monsters. Because Magic.

* * *

Himalayan Lab Complex, Earth

Mnesia took another leap. Her visor wasn't activated right now. So she couldn't see exactly where the entrance was supposed to be. But, in her head Mnesia could still visualize the floor plan that she downloaded on her palm top computer. She mentally calculated her last known position and overlaid that on her mental representation of the facility. She'd stayed the course, and carefully kept track of each and every movement.

'Therefore the entrance should be-'

She took one more leap. Another miscalculation! She jumped too high.

"Shit"

Mnesia kicked out one leg and hugged her precious cargo against her. She struck the wall. That forced her back. She screwed up the landing and landed with a painful jerk. She stifled a yelp. And fell to one knee. Her body was racked with pain. Starting to lose focus.

And then Mnesia darkly chuckled to herself. She lowered Shepard to the ground gently. Entrance to the Quarantine facility, it was straight ahead, 15 meters.

Pain was only an illusion. But, the heat seeping out of the Commanders body, that was real. The commander was loosing body heat. She felt that the whole way here. At first the commander was so warm. But now, they were scarcely warmer then a corpse. She had to act quickly.

Before her precious investment expired from hypothermia.

Mnesia activated her visor. Then, she limped towards the door. She reached it. It was locked. She broke it down. The door was steel. The hinges were rusted. She was relentless.

The door fell forwards. After it fell, everything was quiet. She limped into the room. There was a body on one of the tables, and a gun next to the body. They must have been one of the lucky ones.

She moved towards the table, and took the gun. It was a revolver. She recognized the model. She didn't recognize the body.

The venerable TA2 revolver, its .44 High explosive rounds usually went off after they entered the target. The TA2 always made such a mess.

She shook her head. Time to focus. Mnesia reached out towards the body. She flipped it over, and slid off their trousers.

Satisfied she limped out of the room, towards the commander, with a smile on her lips. Today was good day. She found a piece of clothing and a serviceable weapon. She didn't have to kill any one she'd miss.

Today was a good day.

When she reached the Commander they were awake. She gave them the pants. The Commander had some trouble fitting into the pants. Their bulging muscles rebelled against the seams.

The Revolver, that had a metal handle, so Mnesia held it against her armpit to warm it up a bit before she gave it to the commander.

That was a trick she picked up during the fighting on Neptune. It'd been 214 years. But she still remembered it, all of it, like it happened yesterday.

"A revolver?", murmured the now standing partially clothed commander.

Mnesia smiled, " Lucky, right?"

Shepard examined the weapon. She pushed the cylinder to the left so that she could count the bullets. Three of the chambers were full, 4 were empty. The bullets were big. This was probably a weapon that relied on brute force.

"What kind of damage would this do to a person?"

"To a mortal? It could probably blow off a limb if they weren't wearing armor. "

Shepard nodded appreciatively at that. She slammed the cylinder back in. Three shots. She'd have to make them count.

"What are we up against?"

Mnesia glanced over at the door she smashed in.

"In the quarantine facility, nothing I can't handle. Once we get outside of the Lab complex we'll be in a non-habitable zone. Then we'll have to deal with cultists, Bandits, rogue Psychics, and worse."

"If I shoot those things in the head, will they go down?"

"Some of them will", Mnesia answered honestly.

"Do you happen to know where I could find some more ammo?"

"Yes", answered Mnesia.

"Show me", responded the commander.


	3. Memories of Mnesia

**AN:** Howdy, sorry this chapter is so short. I um, should probably talk about Biotics. Just so that any one who hasn't played Mass Effect can be brought up to speed. In the Mass Effect Universe some life forms can generate Mass Effect fields using element zero modules embedded in their tissue. This lets them alter the mass of objects, move objects telepathically, and it lets them create spatial distortion. All Asari (blue skinned long lived aliens; resemble thin human females) are biotics. Some Humans are Biotics.

In the 2150's a series of tragic star ship accidents dispersed element zero over populated area's. This created the first human biotic's via in utero exposure. That is to say that when pregnant women were exposed to element zero, some of their children developed biotic abilities. Others developed bran tumors. The children that survived were sought out, and given electronic brain implants at puberty to enhance their abilities. The L2 Implant, the first implant to improve biotics abilities enough to make them offensively viable, are known to cause medical complications. Such as insanity, mental disability, and crippling pain. Modern implants are much safer. Also it should be noted that Human Biotics cannot read or control minds.

* * *

Himalayan Lab Complex, Earth

Commander Shepard, hero of Earth, Shadowed the totally not creepy blue haired girl to the entrance. Shepard wasn't wearing any armor. Well, they did have their newly acquired super tight pants. But Shepard figured that'd offer about as much protection as a pre used Gavorn brand condom. So they'd have to rely on their wits to survive.

"Mind the Door"

So that door looked like it was smashed in. And most of the impact craters were about the same size as their guides fists. And past the door their was a creepy red room. In the room there was a table. On the table there was a body. And the body didn't have a head.

Someone had obviously pilfered the body. And it occurred to the Commander that the pants they were wearing would fit on that body perfectly.

Mnesia suddenly spoke up, "This place used to be the Jewel of Crystal Tokyo's Research and Development Department. Then, the Aoen war began"

"Aoen war?"

The Blue haired girl eyed the next door. Her expression contorted.

"That is not dead which can eternal lie

And with strange aeons even death may die"

Commander Shepard fell to their knees. Their head was pounding. It felt like she was just burning up.

"Fu-fuck"

And then everything faded to black.

When things flickered out, Shepard wasn't exactly expecting a trippy dream sequence. But life is just full of surprises, so she found herself trapped in a really trippy dream sequence.

In her minds eye Shepard could see red sky's. An ocean of frost covered bodies. Daemons huddled among this mass holding up children.

From Shepards suspiciously well placed spiritual camera angle she could see a blue haired worrier approach. They wore a Uniform that bore a strong resemblance to the clothing of the Blue eyed girl. And they, they were stained by black blood. It went up to their neck.

When the Daemons saw this figure they held fast to the children. Daring the worrier to act.

The Worrier did act. There was a flash of blue, and the Daemons burst open. Ice crystals burst forth from their skin. Then, the crystals sucked back into their twisted forms. And their skin liquefied. A puddle of dark dark water gathered where the Daemons had stood.

The dark water snaked its way towards the Blue haired worrier. The stream wove its way through the sea of dead. It gathered at her feet. It disappeared into her. Her feet were drinking up the crimson and pitch black draught the way that a sponge soaks up dish water.

After the last drop of dark fluid had disappeared this warrior edged towards the children. She was smiling gently. She approached the children with her hands up. Moving slowly, as if she was afraid that her presence would startle them.

But the children- they changed. Their frames shook. Their bodies contorted. Hands became claws, chest cavities burst open to reveal rows of serrated teeth, and their jaws split in two.

The blue haired worrier was still smiling, gently. Her eyes glistened. She whispered something. Something Shepard could not hear. And everything disappeared in a flash of blue light.

Shepard woke up. They were on the floor. The blue haired girl was staring down at them. Her head was titled to the side.

"Are you feeling all right Commander?"

Brave Commander Shepard, the hero of earth, nodded weakly. The Blue eyed girl carefully lowered herself to one knee. She put one hand on the commanders head. And she smiled, gently.

"It feels like you have a fever."

'A fever',thought Shepard. That would explain the dream.

"Shabon Spray", the blue haired girl began. Her voice dropped with each syllable until the last piece of the incantation, "Freezing" was barely audible. There was a week glimmer of blue light. A paper thin layer of frost coated the Commanders forehead. It quickly melted. Cool water trickled down the commanders forehead. It took away the heat. It took away the pain.

Little did Shepard realize that this was no ordinary fever. There was an implant in her head. An implant she couldn't know about because, of course, this wasn't her body. It belonged to another Shepard. A Shepard who never met their mother. A Shepard that grew up on earth. A Shepard that possessed a very powerful ability-

They were Biotic.

Of course, this Shepard didn't know that. How could she possibly know that? So there she lay. In a body that was not her own. Underneath red lights. Soaking in energies, and memories, from this dimension like a sponge. She was a Biotic. But in this dimension she was becoming something else. She was changing.


	4. The Door was closed, The Door was open

**AN:** Howdy, sorry. This chapter also pretty short. I um should also probably share some more information with y'all. In case you aren't familiar with Sailor Moon.

During the 20th century (or 21st if you go by the updated Crystal timeline) there existed a young girl called Ami Mizuno. Her mother, who was a very hard working Doctor, raised her. Ami wanted to be a Doctor. Just like her mother. So she applied herself to her studies with great fervor. Many of her peers resented Ami. They said that she must be some kind of Machine. But one girl, Usagi Tsukino, befriended her. Ami would later discover that she's a Sailor Scout. A Guardian of Love and Justice that fights against evil. She'd go on many adventures with her friend Usagi and the other Guardians. The other Guardians would become her friends too. And even though things would get dark, and she'd die a few times, in the end every one would come back to life and they'd all live happily ever after. They'd live in a Utopia called Crystal Tokyo. Where humans can live for a thousand years!

Ami Mizuno has blue hair and blue eyes. She likes studying and swimming. Dislikes Love Letters, and any one getting a higher test score then her. When Ami is transformed she goes by a different name; Sailor Mercury.

* * *

Himalayan Lab Complex, Earth

Shepard still had three bullets. She was still in a dude's body. Still wearing nothing but a pair of pants torn off of a dead man. Oh, and she was still burning up. Only now she had a massive migraine and she was starving.

Not just normal starving. Eating an entire Varren kind of starving. Digging into what ever is on her plate without teasing Garrus once kind of starving. Thinking, "Yeah, I could really go for some of Ruperts old Mystery meat soup", that kind of starving.

"Commander, I've found a way to get past the blast door. But its dangerous and fool hardy-"

"Do it"

Mnesia raised a hand to her mouth, and she bit down. Like most academics of her caliber she possessed a talent. A very dangerous talent, she could summon things that go bump in the night. It just took a little blood.

She bit down harder, till she could taste her blood. Human's, are supposed to have warm blood. Hers wasn't. It was cool, like the water from a mountain spring, and it was thick.

It was also, strictly speaking, a conjured material. Separated from her body it wouldn't last long. So she'd have to work quickly. It'd been 218 years since she attempted a summoning. But she still remembered the pattern. She remembered everything.

Mnesia pulled her hand away from her mouth quickly. It was already healing. Flesh was knitting itself back together. She kept her mouth shut, she used her tongue and gravity to try and get a lion's share of her blood in one place, and she forced it out onto the floor. She spat it out forcefully as if it were venom.

Perhaps . . . one could call it venom, or a poison of sorts, after all it was mostly made up of thoughts and Memories. Well, that and magic. And Memories can be incredibly painful. They can tear a person to bits from the inside out. Make them waste away. Make them scream impotently for some one . . . any one to save them.

Mnesia knelt down. Her lips became a straight line. Her eyebrows kneaded together. Her fingers blurred as they traced the pattern. There was a burst of gentle blue light. Which flickered, to be replaced by an Azure glow.

"I the guardian of wisdom call you into this world, I the guardian of Knowledge call you into this world, Through my blood you can taste the world of water, and with my conjured flesh you can sense the intellect of Sol's children", the girl whispered fervently. She inhaled sharply through her nose. And she raised one hand towards the summoning circle. Her eyes were staring through the circle. Staring into the depths of what lies beyond mortal comprehension. Her earrings started to shine; they let off some blue light of their own.

"IN THE NAME OF LOVE AND EXAMS. I SUMMON YOU!"

A rush of cold wind tore into the room. It came from behind them, it came in with such force that Commander Shepard had to catch them as it forced them forwards. Bit by bit the commander was pushed, no, pulled closer and closer to the summoning circle. The cold tore at the Commanders open flesh. It seeped into the commander's bones. The Commander braced themselves as best they could.

Against all logic the girl before them wasn't moving. Her blue hair was so very still. That said she was no longer on the ground. She was levitating half a meter above it. And the commander noted, to her bewilderment, that around the girls silhouette there was a gentle blue glow.

There was a change, a flicker, and for a Moment the entity called Mnesia resembled something else. The Blue haired worrier that Shepard has witnessed in her fever dream, the powerful entity with a compassionate soothing smile.

At this point Shepard didn't know what believe. Was she really seeing this or had she gone mad. Perhaps she was just unconscious. Perhaps this was just some kind of dream. Some kind of dream where she could feel sharp numbing cold, some kind of dream where every last fiber of her being quaked at the power emanating from the figure before her, perhaps she was just stuck in the kind of dream that you never wake up from. No matter how hard you scream.

The entity reverted to their previous form. They fell to the ground. And that all encompassing wind that tore into the room settled down till it became a gentle breeze.

Sickly brackish green liquid burst out of the summoning circle. Something followed it out. At first it was skeletal. It was horrible. It fused with the liquid. Flesh knitted itself into place. And then burst. Something was writhing beneath the summoned lumps flesh. It broke free. Black viscera sprayed through out the chamber. Coating the walls. Missing both the guardian and the commander by scant millimeters.

What emerged from it was bent over. If the thing was able to stand at its full height them perhaps it would have been two stories tall.

As things were, it could barely fit into the front half of the room. Its twisted hindquarters, a mish mash of thick rope like tendons visible through ghostly pale translucent skin, filled up most of the commander's vision and it occurred to commander that only one word could fit this thing before her eyes.

Demon.

The Blue haired entity that had summoned this thing let out a exasperated sigh. Streaks of white frost marred her flesh. She rose to her feet, patiently. She uttered a command. "Remove the door, and hunt them down"

There was a noise. A mockery of sound that mimicked the singing of glaciers as they melt and another noise followed it. A shriek, the shriek of metal that's torn and sundered, it was coming from the blast door. Then there was a cry. A terrible victorious cry that came from all angles and soon the beast had vanished.

It disappeared in a flurry of snowflakes. It was gone. The blast door was no more. Torn to ribbons by the Guardians pet freak.

"Outside", the blue haired girl said, "outside there are members of the Rapine Storm. A cultist group that gave this world some trouble two centuries ago"

Then the girl tilted her head.

"Outside", she continued, "there were members of the Rapine Storm. A cultist group that favored the use of Metaterrestrials during the Aeon war, they'd unleash them on innocents, they did that in the name of the King in Yellow"

She turned her head to the side. She turned her head towards Shepard, and asked a simple question, "Would you say that I have administered Justice?"

Shepard remained quiet for a moment. Then they shrugged, "I'd rather not make any judgments until I can get a better grasp the situation."

The blue haired girl turned her head again. Slowly. Now she was looking forwards. Her back was towards Shepard.

"Well spoken Commander. Now, I believe that you wanted to visit the armory. It should be on the Second level. Follow me"


	5. Lock and Load

**AN:** Sorry. This chapter includes some inappropriate stuff. It contains nudity and references to adult entertainment. Nothing too inappropriate. Still, um, just thought I should warn y'all. Also next chapter will take place some where besides the Himalayan Lab complex and will focus on some OC's. sorry.

* * *

Himalayan Lab Complex, Earth

Above there was light, harsh artificial light, that light blinded the commander. It was the same harsh light that greeted her when she woke up on a table. It fucking burned.

"Isn't it beautiful commander?"

Beautiful was probably stretching it. When Shepard stopped hissing and took it all in she was surprised. Well, she was more then a little surprised. Perhaps befuddled was a more accurate description. This was an armory?

There was a tank sitting close to the Power switch. Mnesia was by the power switch. She'd been by Shepard like 10 seconds ago. Now she was 50 meters away or was it 51 meters away?

Shepard couldn't be sure. Her head was still killing her. And her fever was still messing with her. Not to mention the voices. Jeez, it was hard to tell whether all this was really happening. Felt like a bad dream.

Crude metallic weapons were strewn across tables. Bits of crumbled up paper could also be found. Bloodstains were visible. Strange writing was embedded into certain surfaces. Looking at the writing made Shepard's vision blurry.

And now, the entity known as Mnesia was inexplicably at Shepard's side again.

"Auxilary weapons firing site B is over there. It's straight ahead, a smidge to the left, right by the segmented corpse. There should be some .44 High Explosive ammunition there"

"Thanks", replied the commander.

They went over to said firing site. Shepard to special care to side step the mostly decomposed remains of what looked like a dog, a dog with three sets of teeth. Something caught her eye though. A magazine of some sort, she scooped it up and kept on walking.

And, now that they were at what Shepard assumed must be the firing site, Shepard took a moment to glance at the magazine.

"You have your own version of Fornax?"

The Blue haired entity, who was suddenly a little taller then shepard remembered, glanced at the commander.

"Fornax?"

"An adult entertainment magazine that sentient life forms jerk off to"

The entity glanced over at the cover.

"Must've belonged to one of the scientists."

"Is it normal for people here to have eyes like that?"

"Its normal in The Whites. "

"And their hair?"

"Yes"

Shepard flipped a page.

"Whoah- Holy shit"

The Blue haired entity edged towards the commander and looked down at the page.

"That's possible!", exclaimed Shepard.

"Psionic abilities are extremely powerful in their kind", explained the blue haired entity.

Shepard turned the page. She raised an eyebrow.

"They look like-"

"A common trait in Mercurians"

"You're Mercurian?"

Mnesia did not answer. She went over to the ammo tins.

Shepard, however, kept on flipping through the pages. On one page there was a very well endowed individual with rock hard abs, blue skin, and Crimson eyes. There was a little biography at the bottom of the page.

It was short. It gave their name, Zel. Then it gave their height, weight, hobbies, and age. After that there was an overly flowery description of their ambitions. Followed by section that declared, "How brave!, Zel the Swimmer must be, "to follow the thundering of his heart and seek out the loving embrace of an human lover"

On the next page there was a tabloid style entry that covered the decision of a minor porn star to enter politics. It covered their reasons for doing so. Such as the need for gender-neutral bathrooms in all of Crystal Tokyo, and they talked about the ways that this absence inconvenienced some gender-neutral entertainers who produced their work in older area's of the city.

Yet another page featured a naked figure with lavender eyes and short dark hair. Their right arm was a patchwork of scars. They were missing a few fingers. Their face was turned, so that shadow covered at least half of it.

The other half was well lit. Most of their jaw was missing. They were wearing dark red lipstick. This page did not have a bio.

"Commander. I have scavenged some armor, weapons, and ammo for you".

Shepard closed the magazine. She looked up quickly. The blue haired entity was by their side. A massive pile of dangerous looking objects was at their feet.

"The armor is a stripped down variant of what the auxiliaries use. Lead lining has been removed. Extra ceramic plates have been installed. It was designed to accommodate individuals of Juper ancestry. It should fit you perfectly".

"What kind of protection does it offer?"

"Many soldiers compare it to a t-shirt, or a moist paper bag"

The blue haired entity then continued, "I've also secured 64 bullets for your current weapon. As well as a short barreled derivative of the Designated Marksmen Recoilless revolver Auto Cannon. Each of those drums contains 16 shots. So you'll have 48 shots in total."

Shepard whistled appreciatively, "and I thought The Widow was big"

"I was also able to find a Raven Machine Pistol. Its magazine is half empty. So I recommend you switch it to the Armor piercing semi automatic fire mode."

"Sure"

And with that declaration the commander dropped the adult magazine and started to suit up. The armor was nice and snug. It was pretty heavy. Nothing she couldn't handle though.

Now that she was well armored, she reached for the Machine pistol, and tucked it away. Then she picked up the Marksmen weapon that probably weighed as much as Garrus. She slung it over her shoulder. Then, she grabbed the two spare Mags and tried her hardest to jam said high capacity drums into her pockets. Didn't work out so well. So she loosened up the straps on her upper body armor and tucked those away. If she going to be stuck in this masculine body, then she might as well take advantage of the extra storage space.

"I like these weapons, I think that I'll kill a of people with them", Shepard then pulled out her Raven, and switched it to armor piercing semi auto, "We should go"


	6. Coming in Hot

**AN:** Howdy! If y'all are still reading this then thank so much! Oh, also special thanks to Gilgamesh The King of Heroes for favoriting this story. Your name is so cool! I mean I am such a fan of the Fate series. Well, I'm not a real fan. My big sister is the real fan. But, any ways, thank you so much for reading my work. Its so cool that a real author is reading my work!

Sorry, any ways I should probably also mention that Skraeja and Lady of fire aren't from Sailor Moon or Mass Effect or Cthulu tech. I kind of steal a lot of ideas from my little sister and the writer TheElephantInThePrideParade. By the way if you haven't read the work of TheElephantInThePrideParade you totally should. Her writing is way better then mine. Any ways, um, happy Reading!

* * *

Gobi Desert, Earth

The sun rose in the distance. Its gentle warming rays coaxed the troops out of their wooden hootch's. It was 0530, and they were itching for a fight.

Skraeja Malivnosky crawled from her dwelling. The Wyvern Skin cloak, that all her kind wore, was draped across half her body. It greedily soaked up the rays that would otherwise have touched her skin. Her face was unprotected. Her face was scarred.

She was Skraeja. So she could not be any other way. When she went to the academy she was fresh faced. Like the rest of her kind, she left the academy changed.

For she was not a Lady of fire and there was little to protect her skin. Malivnosky was not clad in heavy metal plate. She had her cloak, a camouflaged helmet, her skin, and the sun.

The same sun that lit up her home. The same sun that lit up the earth. Its name was the name of this system, Sol. And the Sol system was home to Crystal Tokyo. Which was the bastion of hope in this galaxy.

Earth was a terrible place. It was barely hospitable. But, when the Sun came down on her skin she could pretend that she was back home. That she was on Mars. She longed for a place where the night did not scream, where evil did not whisper into the darkness, and the dead stayed dead. She longed for the red world. Her world.

The sun was still rising in the distance. There was still darkness. A cold wind howled towards the camp. It tore into the soldiers. It stung Malivnosky. She recoiled.

This wind also carried whispers. She heard whispers of something old, something powerful, something terrible, and from the volume this Skraeja knew that this something must be close.

Reluctantly, Malivnosky expanded her sight. She opened herself to message carried by the wind. And she saw a place. An old place, a terrible domain that none of her kind would to speak of.

She saw the Himilayan Lab complex, the birthplace of cruel miracles.

Skraeja Malivnosky timidly crawled back into her hooch. She edged towards her partner, a Martian Grunt, and she shook them until they stirred. Her eyes met theirs. She needn't say anything else.

Her partner crawled out of the hootch. The wind did not bother them much. They couldn't hear the whispers. Nor could they expand their sight. They had an unremarkable mind. And that let them do something remarkable. It let them run to the Leaders tent. Through them the Leader would learn that something was stirring.

Alarms would sound. The base would wake up. Some one would whisper to the Leader where this was coming from, the Himalayan Lab complex.

They'd have to send someone to the Himilayan Lab complex. They'd probably choose some one who was expendable. They'd choose some one who could be easily replaced.

A Skraeja.

#

Himalayan Lab Complex, Earth

"So, you're telling me that we have to cross a fucking desert. Along the way there will be hell beasts and . . . if we do get to Crystal Tokyo then there's an Eldritch horror waiting for us?"

"Yes"

Commander Shepard screamed internally. She loved a fight. She really did. And suicide missions, well, those happened all the time. But this, this was a little much. Back in her Galaxy she was well armed and she had a bad ass crew to back her up. Right now, she did not have sticky grenades. Couldn't light shit on fire with a handy dandy Incinerate.

And, she didn't have her tactical cloak either. So she couldn't pull after battle pranks on her allies. Which sucked.

"Are we getting close to the surface?"

"Define close Commander"

"When will we get to the surface?"

"By my estimates . . . 2 hours"

There was a hellish scream from above.

" Great "

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees, and then it appeared. The Demon.

"Reprocessing . . . . 3 hours"

The horrible eyes, the gnashing teeth, the scent of decay. Faster and faster and faster the Demon barreled towards them. Its massive form struggled against the narrow walls of the tunnel. Its translucent skin glistened under the weak lights of the tunnel. Crash- crash- crash- is head slammed into the overhead lights. Knocking them out one by one.

Crash-crash-crash- it was getting closer.

"It would appear that there are still sorcerers among the ranks of the Rapine storm. I'm rather impressed, severing my link to that beast couldn't have been easy". Closer, the beast was getting closer. " Ice attacks won't work against it. There is only one solution". One of its claws writhed out. One of its limbs writhed out. The beast was so close. Decayed flesh, gnashing teeth it was getting closer. "Mercury . . .", the blue haired entity sprinted towards the beast, " . . . Flying Kick!".

There was a thunderous crash. The tunnel shook. The beast flinched; the Blue haired worrier was sent flying back.

"Plan B, run!"

The blue haired entity spun around. She grabbed Shepard and they raced down the tunnel. Away from the beast and its gnashing teeth.

"You know, since you brought me back form the dead and all I sort of picked you out as the smart one"

"Some times brute force is the intelligent response"

There was a sharp turn. The Blue haired young woman failed to notice it. She crashed into the wall. Shepard learned from her mistake. She made the turn, then reached back to grab her and tugged " Come on!"

Faster, faster, faster . . . the beast was not slowing.

"It'll catch us in 45 seconds", unhelpfully added the somewhat disoriented blue haired entity.

"Like hell it will", roared Shepard as she kicked her ass into high gear.

Suddenly they found themselves back in the so-called armory. The beast was closing in.

"We could shut off the lights", suggested the Blue haired young woman.

"Would that help?"

"Define Help"

"Help us- wait, I have an idea. How long can you hold that thing of?"

" 24 seconds"

"DO it!", roared Shepard.

And the commander sprinted towards the light switch. Only to suddenly change her course, and leap towards the tank that she'd spotted earlier. If it handled like a Mako, then they were in business.

"Mercury . . .", the Blue haired entity squared her shoulders. She took a deep breath. If this form was destroyed then maybe she'd reform. Maybe she wouldn't. Either way dying would hurt. " . . . Shabon Spray!"

Dense fog filled the chamber. It did not reduce the visibility of Mercury or her ally, but it did reduce the visibility of the beast. Such was the nature of magic.

"Its rude to interrupt heroes while they are trying to save the world!", declared the blue haired sailor as she leapt high up into the air, "In the name of Mercury I will punish you!"

She came down with an axe kick. Her heel struck the head of the beast. Cracks formed in the floor. The beast's head was forced down. And then there was a thunderous roar. The roar of a cannon propelling a 90 mm bunker busting round at 5 kilometers a second, which was accompanied by a flash of blue, from the air in front of the projectile ionizing. It struck home. Half of the beast's body crumbled into nothingness. The rest of the beast fell to the floor in a mangled heap.

A certain victorious commander emerged from the tank, and let lose a rebel yell. A certain blue haired young woman leapt off of the slain hell beast, drained. They gave each other a telling look and both of them smiled.

They'd won. This time, they won.

#

Himalayan Mountains, Earth

The Martian Ember was a good craft. Operated well above 9, 444 meters. That made it good for tactical insertion. It made it perfect for this mission. Malivnosky liked the Ember. Its incendiary rockets were effective. They cleared the way for Grunts and Skraeja. Made landings easy.

Although Skraeja Malivnosky was the one that was picked, she wasn't alone. Three of her sisters had volunteered too. They were close to her, scrunched up in the large cabin. Huddled by her for warmth.

Two others were in the cabin as well. One of them was a Terran. They were Ora's partner; his eyes were a dull green. They weren't purple. And their skin was a soothing dark brown. Different from the sickly ashen gray found amongst her kind. She liked that about Terrans. Easier to spot whether they were alive or undead, and their armor wasn't half bad either. It looked a little bit cumbersome. But it could keep them alive. She liked that.

The final volunteer was a Lady of fire. She sat far away from the group. Her armored body took up a lot of the cabin. She wasn't wearing a helmet. There were long vertical scars running down her left cheek. Malivnosky remembered that those of Old blood would make a cut for every partner they lost. The Lady of fire had half a dozen running down her cheek.

Back in academy, there had been one Girl. A girl that was to chosen to take up the Mantle of Lady of Fire, this girl had one of those scars. She kept on running her finger up and down it.

The Lady of fire in this Cabin, she was doing something similar to that massive blade her kind carried. She was running her armored finger up and down the blade. The blade was made out of Tungsten. The blade was used to kill Wyvern. Wyverns are dangerous, they breathe fire, and to become a Lady of fire one must kill a Wyvern.

Every Lady of fire was dangerous. They were also brave. The Lady of fire in this Cabin was looking at Malivnosky with this strange look in her eye. The way that a Terran would look at a ghost, and her finger kept on running up and down the edge of her blade.

Skraeja Malivnosky smiled grimly. When the Lady of fire saw this, she froze. Then, she returned the smile.

The Martian Ember was losing altitude in a semi- controlled fashion. Its rockets screamed. They must be right on top of the Landing Zone. Because Embers always fired their 910 mm Napalm rockets right on top of the LZ. So that its expendable cargo could leap into a space that had been purged by fire.

Malivnosky's sister, Skraeja Ora, started to giggle. They loved fire. This kind of landing was perfect for their kind.

And it sure as hell beat being cold.


	7. Birds of a Feather

**AN:** Howdy, here's another chapter, sorry that this one is short. Sorry that all the chapters are short. I'll try to get my word count up. Any ways, um, enjoy!

* * *

Himalayan Mountains, Earth

Commander Shepard, and her Blue haired Blue eyed companion had just left the complex. They'd reached the surface. They'd wandered into a snowstorm. They'd wandered into what was supposed to be an ambush.

"I Can't see a damn-"

The Blue haired Sailor tackled Shepard. Where Shepard had been there was now a steadily expanding ball of eldritch flame.

"Sorcerer", hissed the blue eyed young woman.

It was supposed to be an Ambush. Planned by the sanest, as in not totally gibbering mad, members of the Rapine storm operating in the area. However, some one else had crashed the party.

"WRRRRRRRYYYYYY!"

"What the hell was that?", asked Shepard.

"Friendly forces", responded the blue haired woman.

"KILL THEM ALL!"

"Was that?"

"Yes", responded the blue haired woman yet again.

There was a low shuddering boom. And a head, a heavily tattooed head, landed right in front of them. Close enough for them to see it through the snowstorm.

"That's the sorcerer"

A Blood stained figure shuffled towards them. They were hunched down, covered in camouflaged garb, and they had a long cloak.

"Who are you?" hissed the figure. They had an accent, like Tali, so in spite of the present circumstances Shepard took an immediate liking to them.

"I am the thoughts, memories, and hope of Sailor Mercury. This is the Commander. They're a Chimera, a stable Chimera, and unless you take us to Crystal Tokyo an terror that has possessed my body will fully awaken"

"So neither of you are undead?" asked the figure with a feral grin.

"We are not revenants", responded the blue haired woman.

"I like you then."

"Nashwa! What did you find?", called a voice through the storm.

"One conjured entity. One Chimera. Both, currently, non hostile!"

The sharp grin of the figure expanded, "Do you have sisters?"

The Blue haired woman and the Commander both shook their heads. The figure laughed.

"Knowing that, I still like you. So if I have to kill you. I'll stab you in the face. Not in the back. And if you survive that . . . I'll burn you to death", explained the figure. As if it were some kind of compliment.

"She pretty much just proposed to you", whispered the blue haired woman.

"Oh", said Shepard, "Well I'm flattered. But I kind of have some one waiting for me back home"

"Picture?" inquired the figure.

"I don't have one on me"

The figure grunted, "My partner is at camp. I will show you. If we survive the trip"

"If we survive?"

The Snowstorm intensified. So the blue haired woman had to scream her explanation to Shepard over the howling winds.

"ALL OF THE LOCAL BASES HAVE BEEN OVER RUN. CLOSEST SECURE BASE IS IN GOBI DESERT. FRIENDLY FORCES PROBABLY FROM GOBI DESERT, LOTS OF ENEMY IN AREA!"

"OKAY!" screamed back the Commander.

The storm continued to intensify overhead, only for it to suddenly abate. It just stopped. When the snow stopped falling, when the wind ceased it's roaring, Shepard and the Blue haired woman found their feat.

Bodies were scattered here and their. Slumped in the snow. Or cast against a jagged rock. Bits and pieces of flesh stuck out from the white and black expanse. They lent some extra color to the scene that lay before them.

Some of the hands, feet, and stumps of tissue stuck out at strange angles. They bore some resemblance to new plants bursting free from the soil. Turned this way or that way in search of the sun.

" The Ember will pick us up soon. Then we can hit this place with Napalm. Burn the bodies. It's the only way to be sure"

"Sure of what?", asked the Commander.

The Cloaked figure bared her teeth.

"Sure they won't get back up. If you shoot the heads, if you aim for the limbs, or deliver massive trauma to their central mass then they still get back up. Burn them. You have to burn them"

"It doesn't look like they'll be getting up any time soon"

Hot tears were rushing down the face of the cloaked figure. "You have to burn them. You have to otherwise they- they"

"Hey, its okay", said the Commander, "if they do get back up then we'll just kill them again. All right. Listen, it's going to be okay"

"You sound just like him", sniffled the camouflaged figure, "my first partner. I thought that I could save him. I was wrong. I had to kill them eight times. Then I learned. You have to burn the bodies"

The figure smiled, and said something else. Their was voice was covered up by the sound of propellers spinning. The sound made by a large craft getting closer. When the cloaked figure spotted it, she stopped smiling. But, she didn't look unhappy. She looked . . . relieved.

Shepard, Shepard didn't look relieved. The good Commander was amused. Because the craft veering towards them looked like a nightmarish mish mass of an Kodiak, a Gunship, an a Tomkah, and no less then 8 ancient looking propellers. Also it looked like some one had strapped 4 over sized missiles beneath each of the vehicles wings. The thing careened towards them with all the subtly of a flaming Krogan.

However, when it was right above them the turbo props cut out and the thing started to hover. Shepard initially balked at this. Then she noticed that the thing was built around a centrally mounted duct fan propeller. In other word they put a big powerful spiny thing in the middle of it so that the Franken craft could float above the LZ. It was a neat design feature. But Shepard knew that a well-placed rocket could take out that centrally mounted duct fan propeller, which would make the Craft plummet like a rock.

Why would any sane designer permit a Structural Weakness like that?

#

Anami Research Facility, Mars

"I have this! Word from the front line troops, telling us exactly what they need to fight these Serenity damned wars!"

The scientists and technicians looked up. Had he gotten in again? They could have sworn that they put a new combination on the- ah; it would appear that he'd leapt in through a broken window.

"Commodore Rotmistrov, we did not expect you back so soon! And what's this you are handing me, a note? A note that says Fire on it, I see Commodore. We'll make these changes-"

"Right this very moment!"

"Of course Commodore"

"Because this is what the troops on the ground want. What they need. You aren't second-guessing them are you? Do you think that you know better?"

"No, of course not" responded the scientist who had spent 10 years of her life fighting on the front lines.

"Are you second guessing me?"

"Mmmm- I would never"

"That's what I thought. I'll review your new designs in 4 weeks time. Keep up the good work"

The scientist watched the Commodore swagger away, leap up, and crawl through the shattered window from whence he came. That window was supposed to be Wyvern proof!

"How are we supposed to add more Fire to the Ember?"

The borderline alcoholic scientist turned towards her peer, and she felt some small part of her die.

"We'll have to delay our safety improvements. And use the space to install two more flamethrowers. Unless he barges in with more requests we should still be able to add in a self-sealing fuel tank by the end of the month. We'll just have to make it more compact. We'll just have to work very very hard"

"But we're always working hard!"

"I know Asya. I know".

#

Gobi Desert, Earth

The sun was going down. The Marian ember had just landed back at the base. Its ramp went down. Its semi-expendable cargo disgorged. Most of the Skraeja clambered to their respective hootches, and the Lady of fire headed off to her chambers. Also of course Ora's partner went with her.

Malivnosky purposefully left the written report in the Ember for some one else to pick up and deliver, Nashwa was suddenly very tired, and that left everything up to Skraeja Mal.

She happily snatched up the report, and thought to herself that by delivering it to the leader she would gain some honor. Because, that is how it works.

Mal also greedily held onto the hand of the tall guest known as the commander. Having such an impressively massive worrier in her hootch would make all the other Skraeja jealous. They'd be jealous of her.

They always made fun of her for not having a partner. But, since she didn't have a partner there was room for the big one. There would be room for the cold one too. This was perfect. She'd deliver the report in the morning. She'd sleep with the tall one tonight. Everything would be perfect. Everyone would be jealous!

"Please, come with me, I will show you to your quarters"

Skraeja Mal's lips parted to reveal her very sharp teeth. Martians had sharp teeth. But she had the sharpest teeth here. Surely her teeth, and her impressive natural fitness would impress this commander.

At the academy they called those two things her redeeming features. Well, if they could redeem her then surely they could impress the tall one.

"Commander, how many people have you killed? I bet that you've killed a lot"

"If you count the destruction of the Bahak system then I've killed over half a million"

"You must be a true worrier then. To have killed that many"

"I did what I had to"

"There's no need to be humble commander. You can boast about your great deeds. I don't mind"

The last part of that sentence, where she mentioned that she didn't mind, she'd picked that up from Venesians. Mal heard that it made you sound sensitive. She heard that most sentient beings liked it when you were sensitive. Although . . . it looked like the Commander was not happy with her statement. So she tried to reassure them of their martial prowess by saying-

"I can tell that you are a killer Commander. Just like me."

This Commanders expression continued to darken. Mal couldn't figure out why they were acting so weird. All of her sisters liked it when she complimented them.

"Maybe you're right", the tall handsome one suddenly admitted.

The tall ones armored body shifted. They walked effortlessly into the night. Their grip on her hand intensified. And they repeated those beautiful, powerful words, in a gruff distant voice. Which told her that they weren't really here. They were visiting the ghosts of past battles. Like all the old veterans did.

"Maybe you are right"


	8. Crystal Tokyo

**AN:** Howdy, sorry again. This chapter is also short. But, on the bright side, at least its not set in the Himalayan Mountain complex! Any ways thank you so much for reading this story! Sorry its so terrible.

Oh, and one more thing. In this chapter Chibi-Usa, Usagi Tsukino's daughter, is called Princess Lady Serenity. Because according to some concept art thats what she's supposed to be called before she becomes Queen.

* * *

The spires of tainted crystal rose higher and higher, corrupting the few rays that could pierce the crimson sky. This was crystal Tokyo. Long long ago it was a symbol of peace. It was a symbol of light, and love, and justice.

Now it was fortress. It was a mausoleum. A sickly reminder of what could have been.

Today, in this city, there was to be a coronation. It'd been a month since the accident. The hellish catastrophe that destroyed the crystal palace, the fateful event that was supposed to be just a ball, the tragedy that robbed the people of their Queen,

Rumor has it that a diplomat is to blame for all this. No one can say for certain. After it all went down none of the guests could be found. Bits and pieces of flesh, yes they found that mixed in with what used to be the palace, but they could not find a body.

People were filled with hope when the Guardian of Mercury appeared. Because she was supposed to be at that party, it was her and the Queen and the other guests.

But this guardian said nothing. She murmured in pained tones. But she told them nothing.

So there was to be a Coronation, in this City, today. The Queens daughter would take the throne as it was foretold. To be perfectly honest she was supposed to take the throne a long time ago. But, the Aoen war happened. Such a shame, it was all such a shame.

Today was the day. When she'd become Queen. And Princess Lady Serenity couldn't take her eyes off of the crimson sky. She remembered when it was blue. When it was blue like her mothers eyes.

"Are you nervous?"

Princess Lady Serenity spun around, quick as a top, she had already summoned her golden crystal. She had to stop herself mid attack when she saw exactly who was in front of her. Her cheeks heated up. Her eyes met violet staring right back at her, "You're early".

Sailor Saturn kept her peace. She was not early. Princess Lady Serenity was late. She should have been here 20 minutes ago. That was not normal for her. It was not like her at all.

Saturn paused, and then she gave her friend a nice big hug. Princess Lady Serenity was shaking.

"It's okay to be scared", whispered Hotaru.

Princess Lady Serenity returned her friends hug. She was not longer shaking. But she was quiet. Her expression was . . . unreadable.

Eventually, Princess "small Lady" Serenity let go. After a moments hesitation Sailor Saturn also released. The Sky was still red. This world was still broken. And soon, Princess Lady Serenity would be Queen.

She'd Queen over all of this.

"We'd better go"

-0-

Outside the air was chilly. There was no snow. It rarely snowed in Crystal Tokyo. It was always cold in Crystal Tokyo. It'd been that way for centuries. And today Makoto Kino, dressed in her finest dress blues, couldn't decide whether her memory was a blessing or curse.

Step by step she snaked through Terran military officials. Many of them did not remember spring or summer. Many of them did not remember anything other then the crimson sky. She was different.

Memory by memory her ragged mind repainted a world that few could remember. Makoto could recall the early era of Crystal Tokyo. Furthermore, she remembered Tokyo. And the rain, she missed the way it used to rain. Before the water was poisoned. Before this world was poisoned.

She Imagined the beautiful crystalline structures that once reached towards the sky, uncorrupted by dark energy. In her mind she could almost hear laughter. Part of her yearned for this, and then she took another step.

"Kotonechka!"

The ghosts of her past scattered.

There was an old man walking towards Makoto. He wore the equipment and fastenings of a Martian Grunt. His eyes were brown, his cheeks were high, and he was of average Martian height. In other words his head barely came up to Makoto's chest. .

"Commodore Rotministrov, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing Kotonechka. For, sure as there are rules against a foreign official of my rank being at this ceremony, there are rules against a Sailor attending. I am sure you remember King Endymions latest announcement."

"Its been centuries since I've-"

"Ah yes, but that does not mean you are not a Sailor. "

Makoto's lips formed a thin line. She glanced away, "I am not worthy of the title"

"Surely you are Joking. How could you say that? After all that you've done! Sailor Uranus, the Butcher of the Migou, has not killed as many Serenity damned enemies as you have. Surely you remember"

"I remember Arkady. I remember everything"

"So why aren't you proud? You have done so many wondrous things. Through out all the stars our enemies do not dare to speak your name. "

" I know"

"And just think of all the planets you brought into the Fold. Your faith did not sway when the Outer Guardians began to doubt the Queens vision. Across a thousand planets battles raged, and you were there. You were a force of nature. You, you are a natural born killer!"

Makoto closed her eyes. She whispered, "I know"

"You have done so many astounding things. You should be proud", the Commodore insisted. "My dear Kotonechka-", he began again.

Makoto opened her eyes. Quick as lighting she struck the Commodore. Her upper cut was too fast for the eye to see. His body went up, and then it fell. He fell. He fell like a sack of bricks.

Makoto took several ragged breaths. The Commodore did not appear to be breathing. There was blood running down his face. His brown eyes stared up at her, lifeless. His face bore a certain expression, a grin.

Makoto stumbled back. The dead man did not rise. She turned. She ran. Her powerful legs sent her hurdling through the crowd. A Natural born killer, she was a natural born killer.

-0-

Princess Lady Serenity needed a place to think. Sure, she was supposed to be at the coronation site in 15 minutes. But first she wanted to think. She wanted to breath. So she covered herself to a cloak and went to a place where few dared to tread. She traveled Makoto's old Bakery.

Sailor Saturn was at her side, drabbed in a silver cloak that hid all of her features, but still carrying the same old glaive. It's a wonder that no one followed her. A great wonder indeed.

The red-eyed princess, who would soon be a Queen, put a hand on the door nob. When she twisted it and pushed against the door. It creaked open. She stepped inside. Saturn followed her.

"There's evil in here", whispered the Senshi of Silence.

Princess Lady Serenity could hear chanting. It was coming from a back room. Walked towards the counter, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw a figure slumped against a wall.

Princess Lady Serenity screamed, and the chanting stopped. The Figure who was slumped against the wall suddenly rose to their full height. They towered over them. She, towered over them.

"Chibi-Usa? Hotaru? What are you doing here?"

"We could ask you the same thing", blurted out the princess.

"Me, I um", Makoto rubbed the back of her neck, "Something happened. I hit a commodore and he didn't get back"

"Oh", breathed out Princess Lady Serenity, "So that explains that. But why were you chanting"

"I wasn't- you could hear that too?"

Saturn quietly stepped towards the door that led to the Kitchen. She pulled it open and threw herself inside. Princess Lady Serenity moved past Makoto and fallowed her through.

The Kitchen was bathed in a hellish light. Everything just felt . . . wrong. After a few centuries in Crystal Tokyo Princess Lady Serenity had built up quite a resistance to the off-putting nature of varied magic, somehow this was different. It was different in a bad way. This didn't feel like a run of the mill ritual site. Something old was at play. It was interacting with something else that Princess Lady Serenity had grown all too used to, dark energy.

Saturn prowled towards the oven, and stopped. She crouched down. Her hand started to reach for her communicator but she hesitated. Her eyes flicked back towards Princess Lady Serenity and with out saying a word Saturn threw her body forwards. Towards what she could only assume must be a ritual site.

The Princess who would be Queen followed her friend, and found herself face to face with a very nervous looking cultist. At this point the cultist was chanting so quickly that their words were blurring together. Hellish light was springing forth from the summoning circle they had in front of them.

"In the name of Queen Lady Serenity", announced Saturn, "I will punish you"

The Cultists stopped their chanting. Looked down at their hands, and smiled. "Its too late for me, and its too late for you".

A beam of crimson light exploded from the circle. It blasted through the celling and for a moment Chibi-Usa could see only one thing, red. It was blinding.

When the light faded, and darkness resumed, the Cultist was gurgling on the floor. Foam was dripping from their mouth. Their eyes started to glow red. They changed. Muscle expanded until their skin popped off of them like a balloon and . . .

"Death Ribbon Scream", interrupted Saturn.

A small green ball surrounded by purple lightning flew towards the Daemon. There was a flash of blue light. And then, silence.

There was silence.


	9. Ice Mirror, Red Mirror

**AN:** Hey, if you are still reading this then thank you so much. This is another short chapter. The story is ending soon. Thank you so much for reading!

* * *

Shepard woke up cold. It was snowing. She fell asleep in what she assumed must be a desert, and now there was snow everywhere. She looked to her left and that creepy blue eyed woman was gone. The over eager Skraeja that dragged her to this hootch was still on top of her. And every thing was quiet. Ever so quiet.

The Commander carefully slid the Martian soldier off of her, and crawled out of the hootch she'd slept it. Once she got out of that ramshackle place she found herself face to face with the Blue haired blue eyed creepy young woman.

"I've been looking everywhere for you Commander?"

"You've been looking for me?"

"Yes, there was a great deal of confusion at dawn. And I assumed that something might have happened to you"

"Why would something happen to me in the middle of a-", the commander paused at looked around. She saw bodies. She saw devastation. She did not see many living soldiers, "Where is everyone?"

"To be blunt- you slept through the end of the world"

"You're joking, right?"

"I'm afraid not. The Old one who's still in my body has initiated their endgame plan. I've accessed some satellite images of Crystal Tokyo. The Shields are down, at least 90% of the mortal population has been turned, and the Terrans are losing the fight. All friendly forces on earth have been scrambled to assist. However many of them were attacked by cultists last night. Large masses of cultists, and another group that isn't native to this reality, caught them off guard."

"What group?", asked Shepard.

"Cerberus", responded the blue haired young woman, "It would appear that the shattered remnants your old enemy have joined forces with my nemesis."

"So, we're going to go kill them?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid there's something I'll need to get us there. Mortal Blood. Willingly given. Your blood will suffice"

Shepard drew a knife, held out a hand, and dragged the blade along her palm. Warm red ichor dripped freely. It hit the snow, The Blue haired woman muttered something and Ice collected wherever the drops hit. The Ice continued to expand until it formed a room sized mirror.

"That's more then enough", commented the Blue haired Woman, "Thank you Commander"

"Don't mention it", responded the commander.

"Now Please," announced the Blue haired woman with a steely gaze, "Step into the center of the Ice Mirror. Hold your breath. And . . . Imagine you are falling"

Shepard did what the Blue haired woman said, and soon found her self thousands of kilometers away. She found herself in a different place. Somewhere special.

Crystal Tokyo, Earth

Shepard rose out of a frozen puddle of blood. There were pieces of what used to be people all around her. Shattered crystalline structures could be spotted in every direction. Something large and ungainly was shambling towards her. No time to think. She unslung the massive Marksmen weapon she'd be hauling around. Target in sights. Shepard pulled the trigger.

A massive high explosive round slammed into shambling horror. Pieces of it went everywhere. One large chunk hit Shepard. There was some brown hair stuck to the flesh and a small pink bow.

The Commander scanned the bits of flesh around her. More hair, more pieces of clothing, and a few toys. These things used to be people. The truth hit her like ground glass. She remembered husks, she remembered Banshee's, she remembered Thessia, she remembered Earth, and above all else she remembered the reaper war. She made her peace years ago. Now she was back in the mess. Surrounded by what used to people. Why? Why was she back?

Shepard dropped her very heavy marksmen weapon. She took a step back.

"Not a fan of our weapons Shepard. Would your prefer something Lighter?"

The Blue haired women effortlessly hefted the weapon that gave even the commander trouble. She then mouthed something to Skraeja Mal. Mal, who was still rising out of the frozen blood, nodded. When her feet hit the surface she ran to the commanders side.

"Time to kill"

The tall one, Commander Shepard, glanced at her. Their eyes were vacant. They had the eyes of the dead. But they weren't dead. They were glowing. But they weren't dead. Mal smiled.

"You're glowing is pretty", they told the rather confused Tall Commander.

"Biotics?"

Mal looked up at the Commander, to gauge their rabidly changing features, and then she swiveled her head. Weird noises were coming from an Alley. More noises coming from the rooftops. She had a standard issue 9.5 x 50 mm rifle. Its heavy bullets could go through human up close real good. Dead took more shots. Were these things dead, or alive, or something worse?

"Its not just biotics, Commander"

Mal spun around. The Cold one had gotten close to them. She wasn't playing around any more. The ground at her feet was freezing up. This place must be making the cold one stronger. Like, how the Planet Mermaid made the dead stronger. The whole city must be cursed.

"What do you mean?", asked the Commander.

"Psychic powers", explained the Cold one coolly, "The body you're in must have mutated"

"Well that's not very reassuring"

"This is a good mutation commander. A good change"

Skraeja Mal looked away from the Tall one and the cold one. Monsters were gathering around them. They hadn't attacked yet. Why hadn't they . . . no. Not good.

Mal froze. Another woman, a woman who was a head taller then the cold one, was approaching them. Skraeja Mal recognized the body. This Woman looked just like the late sailor Mercury. Sailor Mercury was supposed to be dead.


	10. Go home now

**AN:** Sorry that this story is horrible. Sorry that this chapter is horrible. This is the last chapter, I promise. Sorry for the trouble and thanks for reading.

* * *

Crystal Tokyo, Earth

Snow wasn't usually red. Fog wasn't usually red. And when Shepard wasn't usually in the body of another version of themselves. There's a first time for everything.

And, the corollary of that statement is, that there must also be a last time.

Shepards traveling companion Mnesia was skewered by jagged spikes. And, Curiosly enough, getting skewered didn't seem to phase an entity that was by their own admission memory given form.

The Fake Mercury snarled and hissed something filthy backwards. Blood red spikes jutted forth from the entity known as Mnesia. Some of them pierced her skin. Some did not. And the entity was reduced to a spinning vortex of silver mist.

And this vortex of silver mist raced towards Shepard. This, made the impossible happen. For a spilt second Shepard, hero of the Citadel, shared an expression with a Eldritch abomination operating the body of a sailor scout.

The Monster, and the Spectre were both scared shitless.

When the mist settled within Shepard, three things happened. First, her entire body started to glow. After that, the ground around her started to burn. Last but not least she changed. Her form flickered. The Body that she was in- it faded back to where it belonged. New flesh was written into existence. She felt like she should. Deep down inside she knew that she was back in her old body.

'My hypothesis was correct commander', spoke a voice within her head, 'you and I, we accidently cast a spell when we both met our end. Ritual magic can yield remarkable things. It has turned you into a conduit of sorts.'

The Fake Mercury was starting to recover form their stupor. Sickly green orbs lurched forth from the abominations that surrounded it. They were pulling in energy.

'They'll break the seal soon. Break into this reality. That's why I need you Shepard. I'm sorry for this.'

Fire exploded forth. It melted ice, it scorched flesh, and wherever it came into contact with the green orbs the two forces were annihilated. Fire died and energy faded.

'This will be painful. And it might not work.'

'could it work', questioned Shepard.

'doubtful'

'whats the alternative?'

' If we do nothing then the abomination will probably overtake you, and then it will spread to your dimension, and your kind will experience the horror of the Aeon war.'

'Fuck it. Lets do it'

'Very well'.

The Fire that had scorched earth, and torn through abominations finally abated. Fog rolled forth from Shepard. A fog that wasn't red.

"You have killed civilians. You present a threat to those I hold dear. And what you did to this city is unforgivable", roared Commander Shepard with a voice that was not quite her own, "Now, we will punish you".

The Abominations that were not cleansed by fire scattered. Which left three physical bodies at the site.

One of them was Shepard's body. That body contained the knowledge of Sailor Mercury, Strange energies drawn from beyond this plane, too much damn eezo (for some reason it kept on pouring in from somewhere), and last but not least the ill mind of Commander Shepard.

Then there was there was the nightmarish entity that stood before her. This entity, for some reason, seemed oddly attatched to the body of Sailor Mercury.

Oh, also there was the Skraeja who had arrived with Mnessia and Shepard. They were hiding in an alley. They were radioing in the grid coordinates of the Abomination.

"Mercury Shabon . . .", began the Commander

"Aqua-", countered the horrible thing.

36,000 kilometers above crystal Tokyo another voice spoke.

"Prepare the Laser beam"

"Yes, Lady Neptune"

Magic Collided and there was an blinding flash of light. Reality warped. Frost met water. There was cracking. A scream. And when the light faded, Commander Shepard was laying in a puddle of her own blood.

"Correct me if I'm wrong. But, aren't we supposed to win these things"

'Soldiers die Shepard, even good ones, we took a risk and it didn't-'

A beam of red came down HARD upon the entity, vaporizing it. And when it began to reform a massive ball of lighting struck. Sending it into a nearby building. Then, said building collapsed in on it. A tall Brunette leapt towards Shepard. They wore a green uniform of sorts and a cocky grin.

"So, you made me come all the way across to save your butt"

'That's Jupiter', explained the voice in Shepards head.

There was a faint rumbling. Shepard tilted their head. The monster was getting out of the wreckage.

"Shit.", murmered Sailor Jupiter of the herculean strength.

The Sailor glared at the not-mercury rising form the wreckage "Guess I'd better teach em a lesson. JUPITER ARCING THUNDER!"

An wave of electricity cascaded towards the abomination, and it struck home. "Stay Down", bellowed Jupiter.

Another beam of light struck down from above. And a thousand discs of flame struck the monsters position. For Mars had descended upon the battlefield.

Shepard, who was still bleeding out on the ground, tried to find some solace in all this. It would appear that everything was under control. And the memories of sailor Mercury must have concurred. Because Shepard felt something wafting into her mind, a spell, a spell that would send her home.

'I can't', thought Shepard.

'This could be your last chance Commander'

'When I start a fight, I finish it'

'So be it'.

Shepard started to crawl towards the monster. They weren't sure why they were doing this. But it felt . . . right. Fire continued to strike the Not-Mercury. Explosions broke out around the Monster location. And then a boulder-sized ball of yellow energy tore up the earth and struck the monsters probable location. Earth rending forces were happing all around Shepard. Meanwhile she was dragging herself across the ground. Which sucked.

'20 meters', intoned a voice in her head. She wasn't sure if was hers or the other one.

She cut her hand on a jagged piece of crystal. A ball of green energy hit the monster. There was an inhuman scream.

'15 meters'

Her hand was bleeding pretty bad. She could feel the heat coming off from where the monster was. The attacks didn't stop. They picked up in intensity.

'7 meters'

Shepard dragged herself towards a large piece of rubble. A beam of while light missed her head. She heard a boom. Her hand was still bleeding. Chest was torn up. Ears were ringing. She crawled over the large piece of rubble.

The Not mercury was straight ahead of her. Its eyes went wide at the site of her. Shepard just smiled, and silver vapor left her body. When it left her she suddenly realized how stupid it was to crawl towards an abomination without a gun or a plan. And it occurred to her that she didn't remember ever thinking this was a good idea. Was this her idea at all?

Silver Vapor seeped into the Not Mercury, and there was a flash of blue light. A strange blue symbol appeared on the Not Mercuries forehead.

Shepard. . . Shepard closed her eyes. She'd lost a lot of blood. So much damn blood.

* * *

The Commander took a sharp painful breath, and their eyes fluttered open.

"Shepard"

Shepard woke up in a Laboratory. Her chest was bandaged. She felt like an Elcor had stepped on her. Images were flying through her head. She really wants to pretend that she was back on the citadel. Getting stitched up after an series of Ryncol related activities. But she knew that she wasn't back on the citadel.

Because Doctor Ami Mizuno was standing over her, smiling.

"I'm glad that your awake. You did a hell of a thing back there. If it wasn't for you then things could have been so much worse. Thank you for the help commander"

"The fuck happened to me?", the Commander croaked.

" You became one with the memories of a sailor scout, you stood your ground against something so old that even I don't know its name, and you lost a lot of blood"

" That isn't everything. I know thats not everything. I hate incomplete explanations. They always pull you into shit you didn't sight up ", responded the Commander.

"You needn't worry about that commander. Or anything else for that matter. I'm sending sending you home.", Mercury Cleared here throat, "R'yleah arak surkaaaaaaaaah"

And Shepard disappeared. Everything was quiet. She stared at the space that Shepard once occupied.

The doctor grimaced, "I thought my plans would work. They didn't. And although the Queen has been restored, with some difficulty, I still wish that I didn't have to bring you into this. I wish things could have been different. That our two worlds could have met under better circumstances. That we could have had peace. Were it so easy"


End file.
